ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell men's ice hockey team has announced 10 additions to its roster for the 2021-22 season. Mike Schafer, who returns for his 27th season as the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Men's Hockey, announced the additions Tuesday as the Big Red continues to eye a return to play after it sat atop the major national college hockey polls at the conclusion of the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season.
 
When paired with the four additions that were due to debut in 2020-21, Cornell will have 14 newcomers to NCAA competition among its roster of 30. Five of the most recent imports are forwards, three play on defense, and two join senior Nate McDonald to comprise the Big Red's goaltending corps.
 

Class of 2026 Player Biographies

Justin Ertel
Forward — 6-foot-2, 187 pounds — Mississauga, Ontario — St. Andrew's College
Recently selected by the Dallas Stars with the 79th overall pick in the third round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Ertel becomes the fourth St. Andrew's product to join the Big Red in the last five years. He racked up 120 points on 51 goals and 69 assists in 68 with during his first season at St. Andrew's after coming up through the Mississauga Senators and Toronto Red Wings AAA programs. With the 2020-21 season for the Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ertel accrued 28 points in 18 games with the Summerside Western Capitals of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League.
 
Joe Howe
Goaltender — 6-foot-3, 193 pounds — Shanty Bay, Ontario — Grande Prairie Storm (AJHL)
Howe posted a 7-3 record with a 2.27 goals against average, .921 save percentage and one shutout in 10 games at the end of the Alberta Junior Hockey League's season in 2020-21. He was loaned to Grande Prairie after a successful rookie campaign in the British Columbia Hockey League. He backstopped the Victoria Grizzlies for 26 games during the 2019-20 season before being shifted to the Coquitlam Express before the league's trade deadline, then posted a 2.74 goals average in five games with his new team down the stretch. Howe was previously a two-year stalwart at Upper Canada College after developing with the Toronto Jr. Canadians' AAA program.
 
Hank Kempf
Defenseman — 6-foot-2, 200 pounds — Wilmette, Ill. — Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
Recently selected by the New York Rangers with the 160th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Kempf arrives after excelling as a shutdown defender in his two full seasons in the United States Hockey League. He was selected to the circuit's second all-star team following the truncated 2020-21 season. He sported a plus-21 rating with four goals and 24 assists for 28 points over 81 career USHL games. Kempf was selected to compete in the 2021 BioSteel All-American Game and also has international experience with USA Hockey. He was selected to compete in the 2019-20 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, an annual international U-18 tournament staged in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Kempf arrived in Muskegon after two AAA seasons with the Chicago Mission. He is the cousin of Stephen Bâby '03, a Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame inductee and All-American who scored 115 points over his Big Red career.
 
Kyler Kovich
Forward — 6-foot-1, 190 pounds — Coquitlam, British Columbia — Tri-City Storm (USHL)
Kovich posted 15 points and a plus-8 rating with division-winning Tri-City on five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 36 games last season – his first outside his native province. The two seasons prior were spent with the Nanaimo Clippers of the British Columbia Hockey League, where he amassed 53 points on 25 goals and 28 assists in 99 games and served as the team's captain in 2019-20. Amid that stretch, Kovich was also selected to compete for Team Canada West in the World Junior A Challenge. His BCHL debut came late in the 2017-18 campaign, where he was teammates with current Big Red junior Ben Berard. A product of AAA programs at Burnaby Winter Club and the Vancouver NE Chiefs, Kovich was ranked 168th among North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau before the 2020 draft.
 
Sullivan Mack
Forward — 6 feet, 190 pounds — Anchorage, Ak. — Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL)
Mack ranked second in team scoring with Salmon Arm on the strength of 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points during the British Columbia Hockey League's 20-game pod-based 2020-21 season. His time with the Silverbacks came after a standout career at Kimball Union Academy, where his three-year tenure concluded with 70 points on 44 goals and 26 assists in just 34 games in 2019-20. That effort led to his selection for the USHS All-New England first team. Before his move to the prep school ranks, Mack helped West HS in his native Anchorage capture a CIC State Championship during his freshman year.
 
Dan McIntyre
Forward — 6 feet, 180 pounds — Almonte, Ontario — Grande Prairie Storm (AJHL)
McIntyre arrives via four full seasons across three Junior A leagues, most recently skating in front of Howe in Grande Prairie. He scored six goals to go with four assists for 10 points in 18 games after shifting to the east. McIntyre's previous two seasons were spent accumulating 34 points over 90 games with the British Columbia Hockey League's Cowichan Valley Capitals. He came up through the AAA ranks with the Ottawa Valley Titans and Kanata Lasers, eventually feeding into the Lasers' Central Canadian Hockey League team for 61 games prior to his move to the western provinces.
 
Ondrej Psenicka
Forward — 6-foot-6, 210 pounds — Prague, Czech Republic — Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)
Psenicka is in line to become the third native of the Czech Republic to suit up for the Big Red, having developed through HC Sparta Praha. He has competed for his national team at various junior levels over the last five seasons and was among the final considerations for the Czech Republic's team for the prestigious 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. Psenicka has played one season in North America, posting 18 points on six goals and 12 assists with Waterloo in the United States Hockey League.
 
Jimmy Rayhill
Defenseman — 5-foot-9, 178 pounds — New Hartford, N.Y. — Odessa Jackalopes (NAHL)
Originally from the outskirtks of Utica, Rayhill is one of two Empire State natives to join the Big Red blue line corps following a 37-game stint that produced five goals and 13 assists for 18 points with Odessa. While it was his only North American Hockey League season, his Junior A debut came with the British Columbia Hockey League's Alberni Valley Bulldogs the year prior. Rayhill's development included three years in the New England prep ranks at The Frederick Gunn School. He also competed in one of USA Hockey's Boys Select 15 Player Development Camps.
 
Ian Shane
Goaltender — 6 feet, 170 pounds — Manhattan Beach, Calif. — Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL)
Shane split the 2020-21 season between the top two domestic junior leagues, leading Bismarck's run into the playoffs with an 8-6-1 record, 2.60 goals against average and .914 save percentage in 16 games. He joined the Bobcats after one-plus seasons with the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League, where he racked up a 20-5-3 record. He is a graduate of Westminster Prep, helping the team to an undefeated run to the Founders League title in 2018-19.
 
Michael Suda
Defenseman — 6-foot-1, 180 pounds — Cheektowaga, N.Y. — Fargo Force (USHL)
Suda is a two-year veteran of the United States Hockey League, posting 10 points over 89 games with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Fargo Force. Originally from suburban Buffalo, he spent the 2018-19 season competing at the prep level with nearby Nichols School. Suda competed in USA Hockey's Boys Select 16 and Select 17 Player Development Camps. He came up through the AAA ranks with the Buffalo Regals.